Blessed Christmas!

Seasons Greetings :)

The Celebrations are in full swing
with the Christmasy air thickening
in anticipation for tonight's Christmas Dinner.

I apologize for the hiatus-
I've been busy at dinners carving away!
:)
The official turkey carver, Leadership Cell Dinner

I've already tasted 3 turkeys,
and it's not even Christmas dinner yet.
No complains, though.
:) :) :)

Some snapshots & previews of
what to come on sk's notebook:

1. Cell Christmas Dinner

♥ you guys!



2. Leadership Cell Christmas Dinner

*it was a blast!!! :)

3. Pre-Christmas Dinner at home

....and much more to come tonight...


:)

Cheers!


♥

*Apart from all the fellowship, fun & feasting,
as I go about prepping & thinking,
I can't forget the reason for the season,
the Christ in Christmas.

♥
The love in the air,
that hangs around me,
the reason Jesus was born,
because He thought of you & me.

♥
sarahkate

APYAC 2007

APYAC stands for
Asia Pacific Youth Alive Conference
where every 2 years, churches
around Asia Pacific gather together
at one Conference centered around missions.

The eminent theme:
"Speak to the Nations!"
challenges the youth of this generation
to be that voice of love and good news
to all nations, starting with our oikos/world.

I initially was going to post about APYAC 2009,
when I managed to retrieve pictures from
APYAC 2007 which was held in Jakarta :)

-the team from Malaysia. Woot!


Being my first visit to Indonesia,
i didn't know what to expect.
I remember looking out the airplane window
wondering what Jakarta would be like.

I did feel a bit of uncertainty
as we were escorted
to the Hotel we were to stay at,
until I met her :)

Dorkas

She was one of the leaders from Jakarta
in charge of the Malaysian delegates.
I remember she ushered us into the Hotel Lobby
and tried her very best to get us into our rooms
(there was a slight delay on the hotel's part).
I can't forget how she kept going to
the reception to check on our rooms,
with that purposeful look of responsibility.
Awww you were so nice :)
Apart from Dorkas, there was an entire team hospitality
team that escorted us around the Conference & Jakarta.
You guys are awesome!
Thanks so much!
:)

with all the APYAC Ushers :)



:)

Good times, good times.


Going to Jakarta really opened my
eyes and broadened my horizon
(for prior to that I hadn't really been
out of the Country before).
Something stirred in my
spirit after going there,
God deposited something in
my heart, for missions.

♥

Thank you God
for such good memories
and a heart impacting
Conference at Jakarta
in 2007.

:)


♥
I am yours.

Birthday Post: with ek :)

*
8 years of
friendship
and counting :)

*

For our meet up,
we went with tradition-
Ikea Meatballs! :)

followed by
the Treasure Box at
Paddington's House of Pancakes
:)

.breathtakingly delicious.
.cottoncandy. e.k.

.thank you.
:)



*




and

.I love the CK shoes.

♥,
candycane

Birthday Post: at Zen with C

11.11

At our all time favourite- Zen :)

happy to be here with you :)"....what shall we dine on this time?"

The Rokkaku Bento!

It is our favourite set.

Oishii!!!

Absolutely wholesome & satisfying.

For dessert we decided to try
the strawberry crepe cake (top right).
We also ordered the usual whole strawberries
stuffed with ice-cream & garnished with whipped cream.

.lovely.




♥,
sarahkate

Happy Birthday Eugene Tong! :)

As I purposed to write a
birthday post to you (it's tradition =p)
I browsed through my blog and realised
that I have ample material from your
20th and 21st birthday!
Here's what I dug up
on your 20th birthday:-
part 1 & part 2

How Ping & I made you remove the candle
from the 'Carmen Soo' cake
(I can't believe I remember this...haha!)


XD


.geniuses at work.

XD

present time :)


snapshots




...behold ye moonstones of power!

A picture of the collage I made
(using pictures from your birthday)
for ping's birthday this year.
:)

And how can I forget your
21st birthday,
where I schemed with Cerlyn
to cast you as a geisha and then a samurai?
:)
.your sister is awesome.


"Let's give him the samurai role first..."
*
"...now.. it's geisha time! Muahaha!"

:)

*Gomenasai!
I simply could not resist.
:)
Sigh, I'll wait to celebrate your
22nd with you when you're back.

Happy Birthday, buddy.

:)


arwn

Birthday Post: A 1111 day in KL :)

11.11

Z, J & sk went for lunch
at Old China Restaurant near college.

It's a Malay-themed restaurant
serving mainly local delights, like
gula melaka sago pudding,
nasi lemak and char kueh teow.
*thank you for the sago pudding :)

.bestie.

*

Following which,
we attended an evidence tute
and then proceeded to Pavilion, KL.

After browsing through some shops
we felt peckish & sat down for some
Japanese sushi at Ichiban bosshi.


...too bad that there was no onigiri.. :(
But I managed to get one at the end of the day :)
Domo arigato gozaimas!

*


Satisfied, we then took a stroll outside Pavilion.

I really like this picture, despite it being a tad bit fuzzy.

.sisters.
haha!


.my blogshop dress.

Thank you Zi,
for everything that you've done for me.
For a lovely day & lovely gift!

Arigato gozaimas,

Love your lots!

♥,
sarahkate

Birthday Post: At Fullhouse with the kdu gang

First of all, I would like to thank
William, Sean, Christina, Jeremy, Ngiam, Vanessa, Yip & Zizi
for taking the time to celebrate
our birthdays together.

*we celebrated Z & B's
very belated birthday
& my pre-birthday.

Love you guys.......!

.......and girls :)



Here are some* of my favorite pictures.
*it's not really some, but oh well...
:)

*

*hearts*



♥,
sarahkate

Birthday Post: Dining at the Lee Cafe

Sorry for the delay!
Finally, delicious news has come your way.
With love always,
from sk :)

Here's the birthday dinner
at the Lee Residence:-

Watch us set up the table!

:)

Assorted steak( different cuts, including zomg wagyu beef T-T)
with tiger prawns under the first layer of steak :)

oven grilled tomatoes with anchovies and olives

My sister Athalia Kim trying out her new Nikon DSLR :)

I loved the garlic bread, the creamy mushroom soup,
and the french dessert white wine :)

*
.my plate.
.the very plump and reddish piece of steak is wagyu beef.

Chocolate fondue!

It was my cake.

.One-chan.

.ak. sk. ek.

thank you :)

Oooh and I got this humongous, wonderful card from Chong.

thank you!!!!
:)

♥,
sarahkate

London Day 3 :Part 2

After a very thoughtful and dreamy end on Part 1,
the journey continues with:

Part 2.

After a scenic walk around the castle,
we went in for King Henry the VII:
Dressed to Kill exhibition.

It was interesting to see row after row
of King Henry's armor and battle weapons on display..!
...so literally, he was dressed to kill =p
Most of the exhibits encompassed his battle armor
as well as his jousting equipment
-you can read up about jousting here,
should you not know what it is =)
Since I grew up with Anglo Saxon stories
of Arthur's knights and jousting,
it was exciting to see the swords, the lance,
and the shield with different coat of arms.


After King Henry's armor exhibition,
we proceeded to the Jewel House
to view the Crown Jewels.
...... & boy was the line long!
....but it was worth the wait. =)


*


Outside, we encountered
some models dressed up in the post-Medieval era.

*check out the man's light purple stockings! =p

I loved walking along the castle streets...
...and the hours just flew by.

*excited voice* This is exactly the tent I read and saw that King Arthur used!!!


...the castle streets were so full of life,
I could imagine a whole town residing here
during the feudal times.
....and what a moat!!!!
Again, medieval stories and pictures
were flashing in my mind.
I imagined how they used it in battle
when defending the castle walls.

Again, as expressed in my first post;

I found the architecture fantastic.

Walking along the castle streets,

gazing at the towers, feeling the cobbled stones..

That was something that felt very deep and special to me.
Somehow, I really connected with being there.

Perhaps It's the influence of reading a fair bit of British
medieval days be it in stories or from a historical perspective.



At about mid afternoon,
we came across this section of the castle
and crossed over here
-where we could see the Tower Bridge =)

:)

Ooooh and after that we went for dinner with
our good friend Chun Howe at a Chinese Restaurant in London.

Delicious!
*all the good pictures are with him.


After that, we went to Trafalgar Square.
I managed to climb up!
Heeee :D
*I slipped on a pair of leggings to enable the act.

.Parliament.
.The eye of London.




Sigh... I ♥ London :)



♥,
sarahkate

London Day 3 : Part 1

Hey :)
Sarah Kate is back with
the London series!

Thus far, I've posted:

London Day 1: Maid of Honour & Kew Gardens

London Day 1: Trafalgar Square,
National Gallery, Chinatown & Piccadilly Circus

London telephone booth

London Day 2

and today I'll continue with
Day 3, Part 1.

*

Day Three:

The morning began beautifully
with the golden sun ascending the blue sky
dotted with sheep-like puffy clouds.
The air was cool and crisp,
and a gentle breeze would float by now and then..
...perfect weather for a summer day out. :)

After a hearty breakfast of toast and English tea,
we traveled by train to the Tower of London.

Just outside the train station was an ice-cream van,
and I simply could not resist.

..lovely!


Across where were standing was the castle..
.....what a lovely view. =)

.Chong.

Being epicureans, we decided to stop for lunch
and bought a gigantic set of fish and chips.

The sun was really intense,
so I had difficulty smiling and opening my eyes.
=(

*2nd attempt =p

I saw this couple having their lunch
perched up here up on the ledge......cute :)

.castle grounds.
*seeing all this made my mind race with
Arthur and the knights of the round table
and all those exciting Anglo Saxon stories I read as a child.
It really felt like I walked out of one of
the storybooks I have right out to a castle.
=D


.the tower shop.

.with the castle guard.

I loved walking along the cobbled streets =)

.c.

I so love British seals/signs of royal households =)

*like this one!=)

.chong & sarahkate.And the architecture is just fantastic.

Walking along the castle streets,

gazing at the towers, feeling the cobbled stones..

That was something that felt very deep and special to me.
Somehow, I really connected with being there.

Perhaps It's the influence of reading a fair bit of British
medieval days be it in stories or from a historical perspective.

Day 3 was....wonderful to me.
=)



Part 2 will be out soon!


♥
sarahkate